Electric switch



(No Model.)

0. EACH, Jr. ELBGTRIG SWITGH.

Patented Dec. 3, 1895.

blades adjacent to the upper corners thereof,

STATES PATENT OFFicn.

GHRISTOPH EACH, JR, OF MILWAUKEE, YVISCONSIN.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,577, dated December 3, 1895- Application filed April 12, 1895- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OHRISTOPH EACH, Jr., a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Switches; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact de scription thereof.

My invention has especial reference to means for the quick breaking of the switch to prevent the formation of arcs and consequent consuming of the parts of the switch, all as will be more fully set forth hereinafter and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a device embodying my present invention, taken on the linel 1 of Fig. 2 and partly broken away to better illustrate details of construction. Fig. 2 is a plan view of said device. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a suitable base of non-conductin g material. B B designate spring contact-jaws, of copper or other suitable material, rising from said base and secured thereto by suitable screws to b, the screw a having nuts and washers to secure the ends of the wires 0 (Z. The metallic strips of which the said devices B B are made are slitted or slotted, as shown at e, and bent upward, and the ends on each side of said slit or slot 6 are brought parallel to each other to form spring-jaws f f to receive and hold between them the blades 0 O of the switch, as shown.

D D represent terminal pieces of like material and similar in construction to the described parts B B, except that the ends of the blades 0 0 between the jaws g g of the parts D D are hinged thereto by the pivots h h, which pivots preferably pass through said and said jaws g 9 do not tightly clamp the said blades as the jaws f f do. The partsD D rise from the base A and are secured thereto by suitable screws 1' j, the screwsi having nuts and washers to secure the ends of wires, which, as shown at m in the drawings, may be of fusible material, if desired.

E is a piece of vulcanized fiber or other suit:

able non-conducting material to which the $eria1No. 545,426. (No model-i forward ends of the blades 0 are attached, preferably by shouldering and slitting said ends and passing them through perforations in the piece E and then bending these reduced slitted ends, as shown at n a. The ends of the blades are preferably shouldered or re duced obliquely to the length thereof, so that the piece E is thus firmly held in place obliquely, as best shown in Fig. 1. The switchhandle is formed in two parts, one of which, F, has a shank 0 with screw-threaded end 1) passing through a transverse perforation in the piece E. G is a plate perforated to fit over this end p and terminating in a downward-projecting pin or hook q, said plate being held firmly in place by a nut r. The part F has a forward projecting plate 2, received between the jaws of the forked or slotted part H of the handle and secured thereto by a pivot a, while the said part F has a rocking bearing surface 1; (preferably angular, as shown) on each side of the plate 15 for engagement with the straight ends of the described jaws of the part II, the latter part being supplied with a suitable handpiece w.

I is apin or hook depending from the part 1-1 of the handle, and K is a stiff spiral spring uniting the two pins or hooks I q.

The operation of my device will be readily understood from the foregoing description of its construction.

When it is desired to break the circuit, the handpiece w is raised, which throws the upper edges of the jaws of the part H into ongagement with the upper parts of the bearing-surfaces c o of the part F and thus transforms the whole handle into practically one rigid part and expands the springs K, and, as

this upward movement is continued until the blades 0 are nearly free of the jaws f f, the force of the spring in its ,effort to retract serves to overcome the rigid connection of the parts of the handle and gives an instantaneous clearance between the jaws and blades and prevents the formation of arcs.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1, In a knife-switch, the combination of a suitable base, switch blades pivotally secured thereto, and connected together at their forward ends, spring contact jaws for receiving the forward ends of said blades, a two-part handle secured to the connecting piece of the blades, and having an intermediate rocking bearing between its said two parts, and a retracting spring connecting said two parts of the handle, substantially as set forth.

2. In a knife-switch, the combination with a suitable base and switch blades pivotally secured thereto at their rear ends and united by a connecting piece at their forward ends, spring contact jaws for receiving the forward ends of said blades, a two part handle, one part of which is secured to said connecting piece, and is provided with a rocking bearing on its face and a projecting plate, and the other part of which is pivoted to said plate and is provided with a straight inner end for engagement with said rocking bearing, pins or hooks depending from the two parts of said handle, and a retracting springconnecting them, substantially as set forth.

3. In a knife switch, a spring contact piece formed of a single strip of suitable material, provided with a slit or slot in one end, and having the solid portions of said end bent to form parallel spring jaws, substantially as set forth.

4. In a knife-switch, a two-part handle, one part being rigidly connected to the switchblades, and the other part being pivoted to the rigid part, and a retracting spring connecting the two parts, substantially as set forth.

5. In a knife-switch, a two-part handle, one part being rigidly connected to the switch blades, and the other part being pivoted to the rigid part, one of said parts having a rocking bearing on its end, and the adjacent end of the other part being straight for engagement therewith, and a retracting spring con necting the two parts.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of lVisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

CHRISTOPII BAOI-I, JR. Witnesses:

H. G. UNDERwooD, WM. STRAUB. 

